Public transport in Dublin. Chaos - close to breakdown?

[Purple]

No other countries went to such extremes. It was deemed essential to keep public transport capacity running in most other countries despite the risk of covid.

I drove to work across Dublin during Covid. I cycled when the weather was good.

It was great; very busy in work and no traffic.

I thought it was going to sort out the pension crisis and the housing crisis as well, the latter in turn helping the traffic problems when all the houses of the old people who were going to die during Covid would be freed up for young families who then didn't have to commute long distances to work... but, no such luck

 

[Howth Head]

Once again sympathies with the thousands of residents who'll be severally affect by this - and the knock-on effects elsewhere locally.

Anyone familiar with area will know that this stretch has been made considerably worse by the narrowing of the road to accommodate a cycle-lane. Like Deansgrange Road, nothing can now get past easily during heavy traffic or in the event of accidents/breakdowns - including ambulances, fire trucks etc - as all options to "pull-in" have been eliminated. Of course the cycle-track could have been easily and more sensibly constructed on the seaward side of the stone wall, well away from the busy road but then that wouldn't have inconvenienced traffic enough.)

One of Dublin’s busiest roads faces year of traffic restrictions due to new water main

Clontarf Road to city route will close for four months to facilitate the replacement of the water main

www.irishtimes.com

The work will require the closure of the southbound side of Clontarf Road, used by thousands of motorists to access the city on their morning commute, from the junction of Howth Road to Watermill Road, a distance of 1.5km.

The closure will last for 18 weeks, during which time traffic coming into town from Howth and Sutton will be diverted on to the already congested Howth Road for a distance of 3km.

Uisce Éireann said it hoped the cycleway would remain open, but the path next to the seawall would require closure.

Clontarf Road to be dug up again for €25m water main project just over a year since cycleway and other water works completed

Commuters travelling into Dublin city from the northside are being warned to expect months of major disruption from next month as works begin on a €25m water infrastructure project along Clontarf Road.

www.independent.ie

DART not really an option given the predictable demand (especially when it'll need to cope with those bus passengers who don't fancy sitting in the car park that will be the Howth Road.) And the new cycle lane will be partially closed too!

'We got it wrong' - Irish Rail in u-turn over timetable

Iarnród Éireann has confirmed it is scrapping a new timetable for train services around Dublin's commuter belt due to problems with delays and congestion, with many services reverting to their original timetable.

www.rte.ie

Irish Rail apologised for the "enormous disruption" it said the changes caused for commuters and said while it got the timetable wrong it is confident the move will prevent further issues.

Packed platforms, congested carriages and delayed DARTs and trains were just some of the complaints by commuters since a new timetable for the Dublin area was introduced six weeks ago

 

[Purple]

The work will require the closure of the southbound side of Clontarf Road, used by thousands of motorists to access the city on their morning commute, from the junction of Howth Road to Watermill Road, a distance of 1.5km.

The closure will last for 18 weeks, during which time traffic coming into town from Howth and Sutton will be diverted on to the already congested Howth Road for a distance of 3km.

Uisce Éireann said it hoped the cycleway would remain open, but the path next to the seawall would require closure.

That's due to a hundred years of chronic under investment in critical water infrastructure nationally.

 

[joe sod]

I'm in Poland now, but something happened here which in fairness would never happen in Ireland. I got the airport bus to city centre it was the proper airport bus with correct number and everything. It was last bus before midnight so was glad i caught it. However the bus proceeded as normal to city centre then it took the ring road to north (could see on Google maps) .Then I started getting worried so enquired from others on the bus, they thought he was just taking a different route to centre. Then a Polish person asked the driver was he going to centre, he said no because it was last bus he was going back to the bus garage in northern suburbs. He never told anyone, it was like the last vestiges of communism where the workers not care about service .
It wouldn't have happened in Dublin even in the bad old days of Dublin bus in 1980s . An airport bus with tourists on it late at night and driver abandons us in northern suburbs. Luckily the Polish person told us another bus would be coming in 15 minutes and that would get us to centre.

 

[Howth Head]

Ah shure look - it's almost the weekend. Happy Friday to rail commuters anyway...

DART services disrupted as Iarnród Éireann repairs damage

Iarnród Éireann has said DART services will be disrupted until tomorrow due to a power issue with overhead lines at Grand Canal Dock.

www.rte.ie

Iarnród Éireann has said DART services will be disrupted until tomorrow due to a power issue with overhead lines at Grand Canal Dock.

Rail services between Connolly and Dún Laoghaire stations were cancelled from 9pm, having earlier been suspended between Pearse and Dún Laoghaire, while staff work to repair a "significant issue to overhead line equipment".

Iarnród Éireann's Head of Corporate Communications Barry Kenny told RTÉ News this afternoon that the cause of the damage was unknown and staff are investigating.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

I heard him on Morning Ireland.
It appears that sagging lines in Grand Canal Dock caused something to collapse.
They worked through the night and they are now back on track.

 

[Purple]

sagging lines

A more and more frequent problem for me as well.

 

[Howth Head]

130 double-decker buses sitting idle for years! You'd think they would have trialed a dozen or so to see how it went?

'Litany of failures' led to 130 unused EV buses - PAC

Chair of the Public Accounts Committee John Brady said that a "serious litany of failures" led to more than 130 State-funded electric double-decker buses remaining unused because there is nowhere to charge them.

www.rte.ie

But then I suppose the photo opportunity and the virtue-signalling is the most important part of these monumentally expensive failures.

Transport Minister, NTA and Dublin Bus unveil electric bus charging infrastructure

Facilitating charging of battery-electric buses in Dublin Bus Depot The installation of infrastructure that will facilitate the charging of battery-electric buses in Dublin Bus’ Summerhill Depot in Dublin has been completed and will become fully operational this week. The first of the new green...

www.nationaltransport.ie

 

[Leo]

Do we need to rename this thread to random digs at Irish public transport?

 

[Howth Head]

This can only get worse over the winter commuting/college/shopping peak period. Although this article mainly concerns commuting from the outer suburbs and regions, it's almost a certainty that Dublin is facing several perfect storm days where breakdowns, weather events - and what are euphemistically described as "incidents" - bring the city to a standstill. Give yourself plenty of time!

‘Absolutely chaotic’: Passengers frustrated by overcrowding on Irish public transport

Irish commuters face the daily reality of jam-packed journeys, with some describing services as a public health risk

www.irishtimes.com

Jason Campbell, a 52-year-old from Skerries in north county Dublin, said his train into the city centre most mornings is “absolutely chaotic” and “completely overwhelming” at times because of passengers being “packed like sardines” into the carriage.

“It’s been markedly worse since colleges have started back,” he went on, with “a significant increase” in people unable to board the train at stops closer to the terminus.

“Apart from it being unpleasant, it is actually unsafe,” Campbell said, with “commuter trains having no air conditioning” and some people “wilting away, close to collapsing”.

“I don’t want to sound like a whinger,” he said, “but this is only going to get worse” given large housing developments in the area and public transport services not planned to increase alongside the population.

Sinéad Hickey, a 25-year-old architect who commutes into Dublin city centre five days a week from Co Carlow sees the strain it puts on people as she completes her 2½-hour journey from home to office. Her train from Carlow at 7.05am brings her to Heuston Station for 8.15am, followed by a mad dash via a Luas and bus to make it to Drumcondra for 9am.

“The Luas at Heuston is scandalous,” Hickey said. “It’s by far the worst part. I find myself waiting for the third or fourth tram to arrive before I can get on, the others are all too full.

Yasmin Tello commutes by rail from Park West station in west Dublin to Drumcondra and describes her morning journey as “absolutely horrible”.
“The 7.55am train is consistently extremely overcrowded, with passengers regularly struggling to board and being forced to squeeze into already packed carriages. Sometimes people are left behind because there simply is not enough space.

 

[Leo]

2 years on and we're still waiting for the breakdown!